Johnny Cash Recording Follow-Up To Unchained

Johnny Cash, 67, has recorded 17 songs for a new album with producer Rick Rubin, the erstwhile rap impresario who was at the helm of Cash’s last two albums, American Recordings and Unchained. Shortly after Unchained‘s release in 1996, Cash announced he had been diagnosed with a form of Parkinson’s (Shy-Drager Syndrome), and the debilitating effects of the disease cast a shadow of doubt over his recording future. However, Cash’s manager, Lou Robin, recently told Sonicnet that Cash is feeling well, and that the muscular tremors and other physical effects commonly associated with the disease were under control with medication. For the new recordings, Cash has been accompanying himself on acoustic guitar in the eerie, minimalist style of the Grammy-winning American Recordings. The backing band — or whether there will even be one — remains undecided. “It’ll be similar to either of the last two albums,” Robin told Sonicnet. “It’ll have a little of both — the dark content that they had with American Recordings and the upbeat stuff they had on Unchained. They’re still developing the philosophy of the album.” Cash and Rubin plan to record 13 more songs, then select tracks for the album. Still unnamed, the album is due in the spring.